How to make Welsh taffy

A step by step guide for fool-proof toffee. This recipe comes from the fantastic St Fagans Museum website, which includes a history of taffy.

You need:
three pounds (1400g) soft brown sugar
half a pound (225g) salted butter
juice of one lemon
quarter pint boiling of water

Using an enamel or steel pan, gradually melt the sugar in the boiling water over a low heat.

Stir it continuously with a wooden spoon until the sugar is thoroughly melted. (This usually takes from twenty to thirty minutes.)

Remove the saucepan from the heat, add the lemon juice and the softened butter, and stir into the sugar.

Boil this mixture fairly briskly for a further fifteen minutes without stirring it.

Gently drop a teaspoonful of the mixture into a cupful of cold water, and if it hardens at once it has reached the required consistency. Pour the mixture slowly on to a large, flat dish previously greased with butter. (Do not scrape the pan clean as this mixture might turn the toffee back into sugar.)

You can also practise the traditional Welsh ‘pulling’ method for making toffee – pour the mixture onto a flat surface and once it’s cool enough to touch, use buttered hands to pull and twist strands into shapes or initials.

VARIATION: Toffee apples!

If you want to make toffee apples, once your mixture has reached a texture similar to honey, simply submerge an apple on a stick into it, taking care not to stir too vigorously. Leave to dry and then re-coat.